The Black Pup
by Okami-G
Summary: Along with the original four wolves, a mysterious black wolf pup wanders to Freeze City, unknowingly searching for Cheza. But will this pup be an asset, or will he only hinder the search? And what is his hidden past with Darcia? My first Fanfic.
1. Chapter 1: The Wandering Pup

**I do not own Wolf's Rain or any recognizable characters in this fanfic.**

A small black wolf pup walked across the bare land, not letting its left foreleg touch the ground. A cold gust of wind hit against his right flank, making him shiver. Still, he welcomed the cold. It was bliss to burn the fire had imprinted into his flesh. Blood slowly trickled down his muzzle to the ground, staining the snow crimson as he passed. Red and white spots danced in his vision.

He couldn't stop now, though. He breathed in deeply. Three scents hung in the air. The first he recognized in an instant, the stench of pollution and humans. He must be near a city. The second he couldn't identify, but whatever it was, it was alluring and it tugged on his heartstrings, making him want to reach it. He knew that if it he found it, it would mean safety and peace.

The final scent was one that he knew, but he didn't believe what it was. It was the scent of wolves, with five different scents within it. Four males and a female.

With renewed vigor, the pup made his way towards the scents. Through the flurry of snow, the pup could barely make out the outline of the city before the snow left from beneath his paws and was immediately replaced with hard cement. The pup smiled, the portion of his journey completed. Now, to find the wolves.

The pup wandered the streets for an hour and still couldn't find one of the wolves. He managed to begin trailing one wolf in specific before he came to an area that had the scent spread everywhere. Whining in defeat, he curled up behind a disposed crate and fell into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Deep within Freeze City's laboratory, the Flower Maiden twitched slightly and her eyes opened and blinked for the first time in years as the smell of a wolf's blood had entered her nose. Soon, though, she returned to her original state.

The final wolf had entered the city.

**Okay, this is my first Wolf's Rain fanfic and my first ever fanfic. I hope you enjoy! R&R please!**


	2. Chapter 2: Ayumu

**I do not own Wolf's Rain or any recognizable characters in this fanfic.**

Toboe turned the corner to see several large crows in his favorite spot in the city. Following his empty stomach, he growled and attempted to grab one in his jaws. The birds jumped into the air and pecked at his muzzle. They drove him back and he ran into a large cat. The cat hissed at him and he hastily ran behind the discarded old box that lay in the far corner of the square.

He peeked out behind to see the birds preening and staring at him. He backed up, his ears pressed against his head and stepped on something. He heard the small whine of pain that followed.

He jumped and turned to see a small black wolf pup in an ever-growing pool of its own blood. The pup looked up to see him and let out an excited yip. It tried to stand up to walk towards Toboe, but it abruptly fell over in pain. "H-help," the pup managed to croak out.

Toboe nearly went into panic. The pup had several shallow cuts across his muzzle and a number of deep wounds everywhere else. Toboe wasn't concerned with those as much. Half of his right flank had horrible burns and patches of fur singed fur. His left foreleg was broken with white bone piercing the skin and with the glint of a bullet barely showing. Those wounds were going to be very difficult to treat.

"Help," the pup croaked again. Toboe snapped out of his stupor and began to lick clean the large wounds as best he could. He took notice that the wounds were relatively old, but they looked like they hadn't been touched since acquired.

"What happened to you," Toboe asked near hysterical.

"Humans," the pup said between whines. "I was running from them." Toboe nodded, although he had never known that pain, he knew what humans were capable of.

After Toboe had licked his cuts clean, he peered around the area to check for any humans. Seeing none, he turned back to the pup and went into his human form. The pup let out a startled yelp as he saw this, believing he had been tricked into trusting a human.

"Easy, pup. I'm still a wolf. I can look like a human," Toboe said, explaining his illusion. He gingerly grasped the pup's foreleg in his hands and abruptly pulled and set the bone. The pup howled in pain and but at Toboe's arms, only to be hindered by his silver bracelets.

"There, now for the finishing touch," Toboe said. He gripped the collar of his shirt and tore it cleanly. He expertly wrapped the pup's foreleg tightly.

Sensing the older wolf's job was done, the pup slowly rose to all fours. His legs were already threatening to collapse, but he forced himself to remain standing. "Thank you, sir," the pup said after taking a few shaky steps.

"It was nothing," the wolf said blushing slightly, "and my name's Toboe. Do you have a name?"

"I'm Ayumu D-." The pup stopped himself. "Ayumu," he repeated happily.

"Well Ayumu, I'm sure you're hungry after all of that, aren't you? Let's go get some food." Ayumu let out am excited yip at the mention of food.

Half an hour later, Ayumu sat on his haunches, waiting for his new caretaker to return with food. He was about to drift off to sleep when he heard a dull thud.

He stood up and looked around the corner to see a small brown plant resting on the concrete. He tentatively approached it and sniffed it, trying to determine if it was edible. He was about to take a bite of it when he saw a young girl walk towards it to pick it up. Ayumu quickly ran back behind the crate.

The girl picked the potato off the ground and looked to see a small black furred muzzle poking out from behind the old crate. The muzzle poked out further until she could see the soft brown eyes of the small pup. The girl smiled as she reached into her brown grocery bag and pulled out a small link of sausages and crouched down. "Here doggy. Come on, come get it."

Ayumu studied the girl. She was slightly smaller than Toboe was in his human form, with silky brown hair and sparkling violet eyes. Ayumu scanned the surrounding area for any of the men with weapons before slowly walking towards the girl. He sniffed the sausage once before swallowing the sausage with gusto.

"What happened to you," the girl questioned, gingerly placing a hand on his burned flank. Ayumu whined in protest. "Where's your owner, little guy? Hm, no collar." Her musings were halted when Ayumu began to softly lick her hand.

"Leara," a voice rang. Leara turned to see her father motioning her towards their car.

"I gotta go," Leara said as she began to walk away. She looked back to see the small pup following her. "No, silly. I have to go now. If I could, I'd take you home, but I can't." Ayumu whined and sat down, depression etched across his face. Leara ran to her father, leaving the pup alone again.

* * *

Inside a large castle lying in an otherwise desolate wasteland, a tall man stood in a large empty room. In front of him was an unconscious woman with green hair that flowed several yards long, connected to several machines. Behind him, a young woman walked inside. "My Lord," she said timidly. The man did not move. "There have been reports of a wolf in one of the northern cities. It's the first sighting since they became legend two hundred years ago."

"A wolf," the man said. "They were stories when you were a child, no?" The woman nodded. "So I take it Cheza has awakened."

"It would appear so."

The man placed a hand on the unconscious woman's forehead. "Could _he_ be there, by chance?"

The woman gulped. "Perhaps, sir. But remember, it was only a single wolf."

"Where there is one, there will be more. Of that I'm sure."

_Soon, little one,_ he thought, _we shall meet each other again._

**Second chapter of my first fanfic. Please R&R!**

Ayumu gives a sad face and whines. 


	3. Chapter 3: Adventure Begins

**I do not own Wolf's Rain or any recognizable characters in this fanfic.**

Toboe walked along the dark alleyway, carefully looking for a backdoor to a shop so that he could swipe some food for him and Ayumu. He didn't want to leave the pup alone for so long, but if he was caught he was sure to be arrested, so he took his time. He was looking around when he ran into a large man with silver hair and wearing all leather.

He looked again and saw a wolf much larger than himself, with dark gray fur and a large scar on his chest. "You're a... You're also...," Toboe stammered.

"Your in the way," the gray wolf in human form snarled.

They both noticed someone watching them. They turned to see a middle aged man wearing a brown trench coat, holding a bottle in a paper bag in one hand and a leash in the other that lead to an enormous black dog with striking blue eyes. The other wolf leapt out of the alley, leaving Toboe to face him. The man pulled a large rifle out. "What do we have here," the man said, slurring his words slightly. "A kid? No!" The man aimed his rifle at Toboe. Toboe just stood in shock.

Out of nowhere, the grey wolf jumped from the rooftops and struck the man's hand, making the rifle fly into the air. "Run," the older wolf barked. Toboe nodded and leapt from building to building towards the rooftops.

The two wolves ran for several more minutes before the older one began to move at a casual pace. He turned to look at Toboe and growled. "Stop following me, runt!"

"I'm sorry, it's just been awhile since I've seen an older wolf. Although, I did meet a little pup earlier today. I hope he's okay." Toboe ranted on for another minute before looking up and seeing the gray wolf was long gone. "I better go find Ayumu," Toboe said to thin air.

* * *

Ayumu paced back and forth behind the small crate, waiting for Toboe to come back. "Hey, kid," he heard a small voice say. He turned his head around the corner to see a large flock of crows a few feet away. "Are you going to leave anytime soon," one of the crows croaked.

"I will if my friend comes back," Ayumu said, trying to end the conversation.

"Oh, that red wolf? He ain't coming back."

"Yeah, I saw him die," another cackled. "Shot by a hunter, right in the head! Dead! Dead! Dead!"

"No, you're lying," Ayumu snarled. "He can't die! He said he was coming right back!"

"He lied," the first said. "He's dead! Dead!" Soon, all of the crows joined in, chanting, "Dead, dead, dead, dead!"

Ayumu quickly ran away from them. He ran into an abandoned alleyway, only to see two crows circling him. "He's dead! And now you'll be, too!"

Ayumu cried out in fear as the two crows that followed him flew down and began to peck and claw at him. He vainly tried to fight off the horrible birds, thrashing his claws and biting, but to no avail. He began to howl in pain when he heard a loud growl.

Ayumu turned to see a large gray furred wolf at least four times his size standing a few feet away, issuing a warning growl to the crows. One of the crows said to the other, "Tsume! Tsume!" They both issued a horrible screech and flew away as fast as they could.

"And stay away you damn bastards," Tsume called to the fleeing crows. The wolf looked around for a moment before looking at the injured pup. "You okay, runt?"

"Y-yeah. The cuts aren't deep," Ayumu answered.

"Never listen to crows. They always lie." Ayumu nodded. "What's your name, kid? Obviously, mine is Tsume."

"I'm Ayumu D-. Ayumu!"

_I can't slip up again,_ he thought to himself.

"Where's your parents," Tsume.

"Dead. Killed by humans."

"Tough."

"But it's okay now," Ayumu said happily. "Toboe said he'd take care of me, and I like Toboe! He's nice! He helped fix my wounds." To verify, he brought up his foreleg with the bandage Toboe made.

"Hm. Is Toboe a tan wolf pup? Wears silver bracelets."

"Yeah," Ayumu exclaimed. "Is he a friend of yours?"

"Not really," Tsume muttered. He decided he had talked long enough and turned to walk away.

"Wait," the pup called after him. Tsume turned to see the pup looking at him with sad eyes. "Can you help me find him? He said he was coming back, but he hasn't."

"Don't worry. He said he's coming back. Just head back to where you met him and he'll find you." The pup nodded and ran off to where the crows used to reside. _I really, really hate pups,_ Tsume thought to himself before running off.

* * *

Ayumu grimaced as he swallowed some of the discarded trash from the ground. The day before, Toboe hadn't been successful in locating food, but Ayumu had been near full from the meat that girl Leara had given him. But now, hunger clawed at him, sending ripples of pain through his stomach.

He was about to complain about the horrible taste when he saw a manhole cover begin to shake and move. "Ayumu, hide," Toboe said.

"But," Ayumu began.

"Now!" Ayumu whimpered and ran inside one of the overturned trashcans. He poked his head out and watched in fear as the manhole opened to reveal a boy with spiky brown hair. In an instant, he saw it was a brown wolf wearing a collar around his neck before he changed back to a human.

"Huh, did I came up in the wrong place," the wolf asked himself. He heard Toboe growling and turned to look at him. "A lone ranger, eh?"

Suddenly, something threw the boy out of the manhole. They saw it was another boy with unkept brown hair. Through the illusion, the two pups saw it was a pure white wolf. "Hurry up and get out. It looks like your nose isn't so dependable," the white wolf said to the other.

"Having stayed in such a stinking place all day, I wouldn't be surprised."

Toboe's eyes widened in shock as he watched the exchange. "You guys are... You're also," he stammered. He would have said more if it wasn't for a girl walking up to the group. Leara.

She looked down at Toboe, who was still in an attacking stance, fur bristled, and backed away quickly. "Help, rabid dog," she cried out, terrified. She continued to call it out as she ran away.

"Damn," the white wolf muttered. "Hige, we're leaving!" The white wolf ran away from the site, closely followed by the brown wolf, Hige. Toboe blinked and ran after them.

Toboe had ran into a pipe in the wall before he stopped. "Ayumu," he shouted. He leapt out of the pipe and ran back to the trashcans. He saw Ayumu cowering in the back of the can. He reached in and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and ran back. He managed to jump into the pipe right before the man with the gun fired at him.

When they got to the other side of the pipe and into a large sewer, they saw Hige and the nameless white wolf standing outside already. "Well, who's that," Hige asked, looking at the ball of black fur in his jaws.

"This is Ayumu. I found him on the street yesterday and fixed him up," Toboe explained.

"Toboe, can you put me down," Ayumu asked, struggling. Toboe smiled and set him on the ground before shifting to his human form. Ayumu smiled and looked at the two other people with him. "You're wolves, like us! I'm Ayumu!"

Hige smiled. "I'm Hige, and that's Kiba," he said, pointing to himself and Kiba respectively.

"Come on, we're wasting time," Kiba called out. The three other wolves looked at each other for a moment before running up to Kiba.

"So, where are the two of you heading," Toboe asked after some time.

"To the exit. We're leaving the city," Hige answered.

"And then where are you going," Ayumu asked.

"To Paradise," Kiba said.

Ayumu raised an eyebrow. "What's Paradise?"

"It's a perfect place. It's where wolves can live in peace from humans." Kiba looked up, as if remembering something.

They walked in silence for a moment before Ayumu spoke up again. "Do any of you know a wolf named Tsume?"

"Big gray wolf? Scar on his chest," Kiba asked.

"Yeah, that's him. Do you know where he is?"

"No. Suffice to say, out past meetings didn't end well. Why do you care?"

"He saved me from crows. I was thinking, he should be happy."

Kiba stopped in his tracks as he heard that. Him, bring that angry, hateful wolf to Paradise? He also stopped when he saw a puddle of blood near a ladder. "I think I found him."

* * *

Ayumu sat contently as Toboe carried him in his arms, following Kiba. Kiba himself was currently following Tsume's scent. Kiba stopped at a seemingly abandoned building and walked inside. Inside stood Tsume, watching the city out of his window. He turned startled and saw the four wolves staring at him.

"What... why did we have to come here anyway," Hige asked.

"Tsume," Ayumu cried out happily.

"You," Tsume asked surprised.

"It was this guy," Hige asked.

"I smelled your blood," Kiba said.

"What?"

"You're scent led out of the city and all the way out here."

"What, are you gonna try to nurse me or something. Don't try anything useless."

"Tsume," Ayumu spoke up. "I want you to come with us. Out of the city."

"Oh, and where do you think you're going to go, all bunched up like that?"

"Paradise," Kiba said dreamily.

"Heh, like I'd tag along with you just because. Let me tell you," he growled, directing it at Kiba, "there's no such place. Just grabbing a handful of wolves with nothing to do won't bring you any closer to a place that doesn't exist." He turned to look at Ayumu.

"And tainting the pups with false hope. Now that's just low."

"Um, guys," Hige called out. "We're surrounded."

"Why did you all come to this city," Kiba asked. "Wasn't it the Flower's scent?" All of the wolves stood there, reflecting on the reasons they had come to the city.

Then the shots were fired. All along the ground, police were shooting at the building, trying to kill its occupants. "Run," Kiba said.

The group of wolves ran out if the building and ran across the pipes that ran along the entire perimeter of the city. As they ran, Toboe's foot hit a loose pipe. He fell, barely managing to hold on to the crumpling pipe. Ayumu wasn't so lucky.

Ayumu tumbled to the ground below, the snow barely softening the impact. He knew his right hind leg was out of socket, and perhaps one of his ribs was broken. He lay there for awhile before a pair of armed guards walked up to him.

"Shit! Get Lebowski over here. This kid looks injured," one of the guards said to the other.

_Kid,_ Ayumu thought. He lifted up a forepaw to see it had been changed into a human hand. He saw a small puddle to his left and peered into it. He saw he was a young boy of perhaps five with black hair and golden eyes. He wore a small white shirt covered by a brown jacket and a pair of jeans.

"What's your name kid," the guard asked. He reached a hand out to grab him, but was met with hidden claws. While the guard clutched his bleeding hand, Ayumu delivered a bite to the second's neck and tore it easily.

Taking the opportunity to run, Ayumu ran to a building and ran near vertically up it. He grabbed on to the roof and pulled himself up. He leapt to a pipe the wolves had ran across and began to run to the exit. He jumped to the opening and saw none of the other wolves in sight. They had left him.

Sighing in sorrow, he sat down and cried into his hands, feeling abandoned and alone. He finally stopped crying when he heard a click behind him. He turned to see an aging man pointing a rifle at him. "Hello, pup," he said, exhaling a cloud of liquor.

**The third installment of "The Black Pup." Good cliffhanger, no? I do hope you enjoy, and please review! Your reviews make me want to write more! If anyone has a suggestion on where the story should go, I'd be happy to listen and maybe use it, and give credit needed.**


	4. Chapter 4: Mecha

**I do not own Wolf's Rain or any recognizable characters in this fanfic.**

Ayumu looked down the barrel of the gun, shaking in fear of being killed. The man pulled back the hammer of the gun, pressing the the barrel on his temple. "Goodbye, you filthy wolf," the man snarled. He pulled the trigger.

Instead of the gunshot he expected, Ayumu was met with a furry mass tackling him out of the way. He fell over the edge, out of the city. Seeing the fall, Ayumu managed to position himself so the shock of the fall didn't injure him.

He looked up at the edge to see a dark furred dog looking down at him with piercing blue eyes. "Run," the dog howled. Ayumu nodded and took off in his wolf form.

* * *

Ayumu limped, trying not to put extreme pressure on his right hind leg. His foreleg had healed, thanks to the full moon's light, but he couldn't pop his hind leg back into place. But now, the blizzard and four days of travel began to take its toll.

He was tired, hungry, and in pain. He looked at the empty wasteland around him, spotting something interesting. A single dead deer.

Overtaken by instinct, Ayumu ripped into the carcass, hardly chewing the meat. He feasted for a few minutes before he heard an obnoxious voice coming towards him. He heard the footsteps of several people coming towards him. The wind went against him, denying him the scent of the visitors. He started growling when he saw four shadows overhanging him.

He turned, snarling at the figures. He abruptly stopped when he saw one of them was Toboe. He looked closer to see he was with Kiba, Hige, and Tsume. "Ayumu," Hige asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ayumu collapsed to the ground, his energy sapped from that last rush of adrenaline. "Ayumu, are you okay," Toboe asked, rushing to his side.

"Just tired. I'm fine now," Ayumu said, panting heavily. "Now we can go to Paradise, all of us." Ayumu saw Toboe smile and Tsume glare angrily. He saw Tsume saying something, but was already unconscious by the time he registered it.

_In his dream, Ayumu sat in a large field with flowers blooming. He saw a girl wearing all white clothing sitting in front of him, smiling. She had short, pink hair and piercing red eyes._

"Ayumu," she said softly. Ayumu walked up to her, noticing he was free of injury. He also noticed she smelled strongly of a flower, the one that led him to the city. "You must help this one."

"How," Ayumu asked curiously.

"This one is with the man you fear. Lead the others to me, and this one can lead you to the Paradise you seek."

Ayumu smiled as the woman began to gently scratch his head whilst he inhaled her heavenly scent. The woman then began humming a soft tune. "Is this what Paradise is like," Ayumu asked.

"No, it is better," the woman said. "But you cannot get there asleep. It is time for you to wake up."

At that, Ayumu felt himself waking up. "Wait, what us your name," Ayumu asked as he saw the dream get fuzzier.

"This one's name is Cheza."

Ayumu awoke to see the day had turned to night and the full moon was lighting the sky. He saw he was in a cave that reeked of the other four wolves. He walked outside to see Kiba and Hige laying on a hill, looking up at the moon. He also noticed that Tsume and Toboe were nowhere in sight.

"Hey, Ayumu," Hige called out, sitting up. Ayumu smiled and trotted over to them. As an afterthought, he quickly slipped into his human guise. He walked next to Kiba and laid down, hands behind his head.

"Ayumu, you have a human form," Kiba questioned.

"Yeah, for about four days now," Ayumu answered. "I used it when I fell and guards came looking. I don't like using it, though. It feels too weird."

"Me neither, but I don't like it because of my pride. We shouldn't have to hide the fact that we're superior." Ayumu nodded in agreement.

"Stop filling the kid's head with that crap," Hige growled.

"It's the truth," Kiba shot back.

Ayumu smiled and looked up at the moon, reveling in its light. Suddenly, a loud bang rumbled through the field, followed by a long howl. "Toboe," Ayumu shouted.

Hige turned and looked to the east. "It came from that way," he said, pointing.

Kiba stood up and reached his hand down for Ayumu to take. Ayumu grabbed his hand as he was hauled upwards. The two of them nodded to each other and ran towards the sound.

Hige looked up confused. "Hey, don't leave me," he called out. He quickly ran after them.

* * *

Ayumu looked down and saw the hulking piece of machinery that was trying to shoot Tsume and Toboe. It ran on three tracks, but they could also function as legs. Its right arm, which had since detached itself, was a powerful cannon and its left held a rapid fire machine gun.

It had switched targets and was now firing at Kiba as he nimbly dodged the bullets. He grabbed a large icicle and leapt at the machine, plunging the spear of ice into the gun's muzzle. The gun exploded, leaving the machine defenseless.

Kiba stood perched on a piece of ice jutting out of the cliff face, smiling triumphantly. Ayumu looked at the machine to see it reveal a mini gun from its throat. "Kiba," Ayumu cried out.

Acting on complete instinct, Ayumu jumped off the cliff and landed on the ice, putting himself between the gun and the white wolf. The machine began to spin the mini gun.

* * *

_ERROR_

MAIN WEAPON SYSTEMS NEUTRALIZED

INITIALIZING HIDDEN RAPID FIRE WEAPON

TARGETING WHITE WOLF

PREPARING TO FIRE...

RECALCULATING

NEW TARGET

BLACK WOLF

*WARNING*

PRESERVATION ORDER 193

DO NOT ELIMINATE MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY

DEACTIVATING OFFENSIVE PROTOCOL

* * *

Ayumu watched in amazement as the machine stopped spinning its gun and placed it back inside of its hidden holster. Its eyes turned from their usual piercing red to a bright white. The mecha just stared at him.

Behind him, Kiba grabbed Ayumu by his short and threw him up with Hige, Toboe, and Tsume on the cliff. He jumped toward the mecha, morphing into his human form mid-air. He grabbed the machine's head and heaved. The machine head tore off cleanly.

The torso of the machine opened a cylinder on its side and began to fire rockets at Kiba. The machine's eyes still glowed red, apparently still giving its body commands. Kiba walked up to the launcher and gave it a powerful kick, sending the cylinder inside the body. Kiba quickly ran up the cliff face as the machine exploded on the ground.

Ayumu watched in amazement as shrapnel flew in all directions. He looked up to see the mech's head land smoking in front of him. He could easily see the emblem on the machine: A white flower inside a black circle. The pup had seem that enough times to know what it was. And he then knew why it hadn't fired on him.

The symbol was that of The House of Darcia.

**And they all lived happily ever after. As if! This is just chapter four. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope even more that you'll review!**


	5. Chapter 5: Pack of Dogs

**I do not own Wolf's Rain or any recognizable characters in this fanfic.**

Ayumu looked out at the large expanse of water in front of him; the ocean. He had only heard stories of it, but had never imagined it to be that huge. "Wow," he said.

"Come on. We're not getting to Paradise by staring," Kiba said, jumping from the cliff face towards a set of train tracks. Hige and Tsume looked at each other for a moment before leaping after him.

Ayumu approached the edge and looked down to the bottom. Toboe reached out a hand towards Ayumu. "Grab on," he said. The smaller pup grabbed on to his hand and they both leapt off, plummeting to the ground. They quickly ran towards the others.

After running for another ten minutes, Kiba stopped and sniffed the air. "It's faint, but I can smell the Lunar Flower," he said.

"Then that means Paradise must be this way," Ayumu shouted, running ahead of everyone else. The others shrugged and ran after him. They all stopped as they saw the city more clearly, a large, rusted and run down clump of buildings.

Hige drew in a breath and scowled. He turned to Kiba. "You smell a flower, I smell rancid oil," he said.

"I smell death," Ayumu said, clutching Toboe's shirt. Toboe patted him in his shoulder.

They all walked through the city, seeing its occupants rush indoors and close their blinds. "They seem scared of us," Ayumu said.

"Eh, they probably don't get a lot of outsiders 'round here. Come to think about it, they probably don't have that many insiders either," Hige said, chuckling at his own joke.

They all came up to a small group of people huddling around a trash can fire. They all turned as they approached. "What are you doing here," asked one. The man stood up, wearing a leather jacket and adorning a large scar running down his face.

"Just passing through. Like we'd have any business in this rat hole," Tsume said.

The older man smirked. "And where are you from, eh?"

"A city up north," Kiba said calmly.

"And where are you headed?"

"To Paradise," Ayumu said happily. The men around the fire looked at each other before bursting into a round of heavy laughter. "Why are they laughing," Ayumu asked Kiba.

"They're laughing because they've never heard of it," Kiba answered.

The other men looked up at that comment. "Oh, we've heard of it," the leader sneered. Ayumu blinked as all of the men turned into gray and brown wolves. They all reverted into their human forms. "We've been there. We've seen it. It ain't no Paradise. It was Hell!"

"I knew it," Tsume muttered. "Come on, let's leave." Tsume, Hige, and Kiba all walked away from the older wolves. Ayumu stiffened as the older wolves stared at him and Toboe. Toboe grabbed Ayumu's shoulder and swiftly led him away.

* * *

The five wolves sat on the shore, looking up at the crescent moon hanging in the sky. The peace was interrupted by a low growl. "Who was that," Hige asked. The others turned to look at him. "Oh yeah, it was me. And that one was Tsume's." Tsume shot him a death glare. "How do they survive with no food?"

"I'm not sure," Toboe said. He sighed and clutched his empty stomach.

"Whatever. We should go and find somewhere to sleep," Tsume said standing up.

"Ayumu already has that covered," Kiba smirked. Toboe looked down to see the pup in his wolf form curled into a ball, head resting on Toboe's legs. "The pup's really taken a liking to you, hasn't he?"

"Makes sense, considering I healed him when I first found him," Toboe pointed out. "I wonder what happened to him, though." He shrugged and gently picked him up before he stood up. Kiba and Hige stood up and began to walk away.

_Ayumu cried out as he felt the cool metal pierce his flesh. He looked up to the figure holding the blade. The man wore all black clothing, minus a white mask over his face. The mask hid his left eye from view, only revealing his right icy blue one._

The man lifted his silver sword and brought it through his side, leaving a large, jagged gash. The one month old pup howled in pain. The snow beneath him was stained crimson. The man gave a powerful kick to his muzzle. "Shut up," he screamed. He began to walk away from the pup and towards a big airship.

The pup stood up, trying to run away. However, the laser from the ship fired and left his entire right flank singed. The man walked back up to him and placed a pistol to his left fore leg and pulled back the hammer. "Stay," he sneered. The man laughed psychotically before pulling the trigger. 

Ayumu sat up with a jolt, panting out of fear. Slowly, he calmed down and remembered where he was. He looked around to see he was in a rundown building with Hige and a woman with purple hair. Ayumu remembered she was with the older wolves in the town.

"Hey Ayumu," Hige called out. "This is Cole. Come over and have some food."

"Really, you're sharing food," Ayumu asked chuckling. The woman, Cole, giggled. Hige scowled. Ayumu smiled before swiping a piece of bread from Hige and biting into it. "Where's Toboe?"

"Kiba and Tsume ran off, so he went to get them."

"Oh," he said. His mood went sour. He wanted someone he could talk to about his nightmare.

"So, how do you guys get all this food," Hige asked Cole. "All I see around here is, nothing."

"Come by the train station in the morning. I'm sure you'll be in for a surprise," Cole said mysteriously. "But I don't recommend bringing the pup." This last part she whispered, but it didn't escape Ayumu's ears.

"Why," Ayumu asked, now listening to the conversation.

"Just don't, okay?" Ayumu scowled for a moment before nodding in defeat. "Good. Now, I have to get back to the pack. Zali will wonder where I went. Goodnight."

With that, she ran off into the night. Hige stared at the spot she used to stand before he felt a soft blow to the head. He turned to see Ayumu standing there. "Geez, what was that for," he growled.

"Hige, even I could tell she had a mate. And the way she said Zali makes me think he's the big, scary one. Don't try." Hige growled and and went back to stuffing himself. Ayumu sighed and returned to his own meal.

* * *

Toboe, Hige, Tsume, and Ayumu all looked over the railing and saw several men loading packages onto several carts. They all took in a breath as they saw dozens of wolves strapped into leather harnesses.

"What are they doing," Ayumu asked. One of the men pulled out a whip and gave it a sharp crack. All of the wolves began to walk forward, pulling one of the carts behind them. They slowly trudged up the steep ramp, trying to hold the weight of the cart.

One of the wolves, an elderly gray colored one, began to fall from exhaustion. The wolf tried to stand up again, but faltered. Ayumu turned around and buried his head into Toboe's shirt.

"What's the matter? First time seeing death," a cold voice asked. Ayumu looked up to see the man from yesterday with the scar. Zali.

"What the hell is going on here," Tsume snarled.

"The train only makes a brief stop here. So that is when humans and us get to eat. We use them, they use us."

"Like Tsume did," Hige said. Tsune flashed him a look that told him to stop talking.

"Kiba," Ayumu yelled. Out of an alley the white wolf ran out, covered in a new set of scars and bruises. Kiba looked at the wolves and growled angrily and rushed to them.

Zali ran to Kiba and pinned him against the ground in a headlock. "Stray dog," he yelled at the top of his lungs. "A stray dog got loose!"

* * *

Ayumu looked over at the wolves burying the elderly wolf in an already dug hole, whilst he, Toboe, Tsume, and Hige stood next to Kiba, who was leaning up against a headstone in pain. "I thought I told you not to interfere," Zali growled, looking at the band of younger wolves. "We have our own way of living out here!"

"You're all pathetic! This isn't a life; clinging to this wasteland," Kiba said, trying to stand up. Toboe and Hige quickly held him down.

"You're all young. You haven't seen what we have."

"Come on, we're leaving," Tsume snarled. He and Hige lifted up Kiba off of the ground and began to walk back to their makeshift home.

* * *

Ayumu watched silently as Toboe pressed herbs against Kiba's numerous cuts and bruises. Since they had returned to their camp, Kiba had fallen unconscious and had not said a word prior. "Is he gonna be okay," Ayumu asked timidly.

"Yeah. He's gonna be weak for awhile, but the herbs should help," Toboe assured.

"Damn it, Kiba never thinks things through," Hige said lazily.

"Well, he couldn't just stand there, could he?"

"He still shouldn't have butted in," Tsume muttered. "We shouldn't even be here. We should leave now."

"But Kiba can't move yet," Ayumu whined.

"Which is why we should've left yesterday!" Ayumu whimpered quietly.

To his right, Kiba's eyes shot open and he tried to sit up. "Let's go," he said.

Toboe pushed him back to the ground. "You're not going anywhere with those wounds and an empty stomach," he said.

"Actually, only one of us has food in their stomach," Tsume said, staring at Hige.

"Hey, you weren't there when I got the food. You all turned your nose up at the food Cole brought. Besides, Ayumu ate too!" Hige gave an accusing glare at the black pup.

"You still could have left us some," Toboe pointed out sadly.

"You guys wandered off," the chubby wolf countered.

"And that's when you had your little 'date' with Cole," Tsume finished for him.

"Not much of a date with the pup waking up and ruining the mood," he muttered. Ayumu gave an innocent smile.

"Chubby, go make youself useful and go find us some food," Tsume yelled. Hige shrugged and started walking off. "Oh, and take Ayumu with you."

"What?" Tsume walked towards him and started snarling. "Okay, okay! Ayumu, come on!" The pup smiled and bounded to Hige's side as they walked off.

Ayumu and Hige walked around the outskirts of the city, searching for something for the others to eat. "Man, we gotta work our asses off for food and we don't get to eat any," Hige complained.

Ayumu stopped listening to Hige's rambling as he saw something oddly colored against the white snow. He tensed his legs and pounced on it, biting and gnawing at it.

_Squeak!_

Ayumu looked at his prey, a small blue squeak toy in the shape of a mouse, and quickly spit it out. "Not food," he said, defeated. Hige let out a round of light laughter.

Hige and Ayumu kept walking along until Hige drew in a deep breath and gave a huge smile. "I smell it! Fresh mutton," he said, drooling slightly. He ran off to a large slab of meat lying in the snow.

Ayumu ran after him only to see him about to dine in on it. He was right next to him when he felt something against his paws. He swiped his paw to the right to see a long metal bar. "Hige, don't!" He ran up and tackled Hige.

He managed to knock Hige out of the cage before it closed and locked. Hige blinked as he realized he hadn't seen the trap. Ayumu bit at the cage bars, trying to escape. "Hige, get me out of here," Ayumu cried out.

Hige snapped out of his stupor and started biting and pulling at the bars. After a minute he turned back to human and rubbed his jaw in pain. "My fangs are too delicate for this type of stuff," he said in a dignified manner.

"Get help you idiot," Ayumu said, starting to tear up. He looked around and saw three of the wolves from the town walking towards him. "Now, run!" Hige nodded and ran off into the snow.

Ayumu looked back at the three older wolves. They looked at him and smiled. "Hey Moss, isn't this the pup," one of them asked.

One of the other wolves, obviously the leader, pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his back pocket. He held it up next to Ayumu's face. "Yep," he said. "And we're gonna get that damn big reward. I don't know who you are, pup, but somebody wants you alive."

An evil grin leapt to his face. The man grabbed Ayumu by the scruff of his neck and slammed him against the cage bars, knocking him unconscious.

**I am SO sorry for the late update! Please don't send Tsume to kill me! I'm still young!**

As with the story, I'm going to break off the anime storyline a bit and go it on my own. Enjoy and remember, reviews don't just make me happy, but Ayumu too. He loves them! 


	6. Abandonment Notice

**Author's Notice**: **To all**** readers and authors, I am currently going to abandon this story. I have looked over this story and have found it ****inadequate to what I am capable of after a year of schooling. Furthermore, look forward to new stories coming in categories such as Fairy Tail, Code Geass, and Fullmetal Alchemist. **

**Also, if anyone wants to adopt this story, you have one month until it is deleted. Please PM me if you want to.**


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